Flinch indicator for firearms



Feb. ze, 1924; 1,484,647

' D. B. HOWARD FLINQI-I INDICATOR FOR FIREARMS Filed :June s. 1921 Patented Feb. 26, 1924.

UNITED STATES minar is. HOWARD. orA W-Snmsaon, msnm@ .emot-1m13.111s,

FLINCHINDIGATQR roarmnnaius. j

. Application led J'unerS,

To all whom t may concern:

Be it known that I, DUDLEY B. HOWARD, a citizen of the VUnited States, residing at Washington, District of Columbia, have in# 5 vented lcertain new and useful Improvements in Flinch Indicators forV Firearms, of which thefollowing is a speciiication.

This invention relates to iirearm accessories, and in particular to a device for indieating-when the tirer of a weapon convulsively jerks his piece out of proper iring position at the time of discharge, which is commonly known Vas fflinching Flinching is due to lack of muscular control resulting from nervousness caused, or`

at: least aggravated, by fear ofl beingl in-V jured duringV recoil of the Weapon. A man thus aiected may start to squeeze the trigger carefully, but will suddenly lose control of himself. I-Ile will invariably stop adjusting the aim, pull the trigger vio-l lently, flex his armsso as to'deran'ge the position of the piece, andgo through other contortions. Y

In the military service, iiinching is a serious factor to be dealt with in the training of recruits in target firing with small arms, such as the magazine rifle, automatic rifle, and pistol. Heretofore, certain schemes have been tried in an effort to detect and overcome this tendency on the part ot gunshy men. One scheme isl to insert a dummycartridge in a broken clip of ball cartridges and then to place this prepared clip surreptitiously in the possession o the unsuspect-v ing tirer. When the dummy nally enters the chamber of the piece and the man goes through the motions of firing, any linchingV willbe exposed, because there will be no are coil to obscure the convulsive muscular reac tions of the tirer. v-

The trick which hasjust been mentioned is quite'eiective as a temporary method `of. detection, at least the irsttime it is tried, bu t it cannot be repeated frequently. Itis ,diiiicult to deceive a man who is at all alert'moreL than once or twice. It a dummy cartridge be used and thevfirer be aware of itsuse, nothngwill be accomplished, for he will not inch. He must be jtricked into believingV that his piece is loaded with a ballcartridge andfthat'fhe will be kiokedf Otherwise, the instructor might just as Wellt require him 192i. serial No. 474,871.

i to simulate firing with an empty piece, which exerciseV belongs toy an earlierllstage.ofthe mans training. Y

'Assuming that the dummyl test must bel used surreptitiously, it is considered, even so, `that merely detecting. exposing hnchlng at widely separated times is notthe proper corrective measure. In the intervals, the man will continue to flinch. It is believed that exposure of flinching should be persisted inV during a mams-.instruction practice until indications prove. thatffhe has Y fully conquered the tendency,v

Muscular control, which is necessary in order to fire properly, can only Vbe regained byl dogged perseverance in the exerciseo A iiincher must Viforce himself.V

willv power. I v to iire each shot carefully, and that is a hard thing todo in many cases. I-f `he `thinks that recoil will cover up his flinchingand that no one will detect it, he is apt to give up' all hope of making a good scoreandyield to the tendency to flinch. Therefore, any

' scheme or device tor indicating` when a man i'linches must be capable oeXposing flinchlng each time it'occurs 1n order to be suc; cessful.

It is the object` of the present invention to get atthe root of the trouble byprovid- 'l ing a device which may be attached to the weapon Lused. by a. man Ysuspected-of flinchwhich willfunction each timeheiinches.

ing, or knowndefinitelyto be aflincher, and

the firers comrades present a -tell-t,ale inl dication of i-nching which cannot be deniedV by the tirer. It then devolves uponthe tirer to strengthen his'own willpower and-regain muscular control, .or beV subjected to oo ntinual embarrassment.

An object in'view also is to provide ade-l vice of this nature whichy isadaptedto be theY latter. It is essentially Va quickly at.-

tachable and detachable instrumentfor ,tem-` porary use on anyrearm.

A further object .is to design 'aliinch in-` dicator. which is of ,extremely simple,- uni?.

attached readily to arearm withoutmak-v ing Aany alterations in the construction of` following specific description is read in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure 1 is a side elevation of thedevice when attached to the United States maga- K zine rifle, model 1903, showing the signal element in its exposed, operative position;

Figure 2 is a cross-sectional view taken on the plane indicate-d by line 2-2 of Figure 1, showing Vthe signal element in retracted position; and l Figure 3 is a similar view on line 3 3 of Figure l.

Before describing the mechanical details, it may be well to mention the manner in which it is intended to cause actuation of the indicator by iiinching on the part of the tirer.' In seeking means 'for applying the power impulse represented by tlinching to use as a prime mover for the indicator, the

physiological react-ions incident to tlinching were considered, and from all of them one was selected as being preferable for the purpose. This reaction is the clenching of the tingers of the trigger hand. Y

While the inventive idea may be expressed in numerous ways, a convenient embodiment Jfor use onthe magazine riiie is represented in the drawing. It is to be understood that I do not want to be restricted to this vparticularv embodiment of the invention alone. In adapting the device to the pistol and other weapons, or in meeting other requirements of practice, various changes may become necessary. Y

Referring to the drawings, the numeral I 5 designates a signal element which is movablymounted and adapted to be shifted in position by a manipulating member 6. This manipulating member is preferably mounted adjacent to the small of the stock 7 of the rie and is movable.

The signal element and manipulating member may be mounted upon the rifle in any convenient manner, but the construction shown should meet the requirements oi' practice. In this instance, both are supported by a spring clip 8, which includes breechengaging portion 9 and guard-engaging portion 10. These clip portions aie shaped to lit the breech and trigger-guard, respec-` by coating it with Vsome paint or stain of contrasting color. 'Ihe signal element should be cylindrical in form and adapted to work freely in the cylinder. Its length should be such that it will be entirely concealed within the cylinder in one extreme position, which may be termedl itsv inoperative position. Byv mounting the cylinder in such a position that it will be vertical when the rifle is horizontal, and by having the upper end of the cylinder open, the signal element will gravitate normally into inoperative position (see Figure 2) and may be caused to project from the cylinder into operative, indicating position, as shown in Figure 1. f

The lower end of cylinder 11 may be connected with a compiessible bulb 13 by means of iiexible tube 14. By interposing the bulb between the manipulating member 6 and the small of the stock 7, movement of the member 6 toward the stock will cause deflation of the bulb and increase the full pressure in cylinder l1. transversely bowed to confine the bulb and aiiord a grip which will tit those iingers of The manipulating member isA the iirers hand other than the trigger finger.

The connection between the member 6 and the spring clip is inthe form of acurved strip l5, which acts as a spring and nornially maintains the members in the angular relation to the stock shown in Figure l.

In order that gradualdeflation of the bulb 13 will not cause actuation of the indicator by shifting signal element 5 upward, a small vent 16 may be provided in cylinder 11 near its lower end. Sudden deiiation will thus be necessary in order to raise the Apressure in the cylinder to a point in excess of that which can be dissipated quickly by escape of air through the vent.

The sensitiveness of the device may be 'regulated by varying the effective area of the vent 16. This is accomplished in the present instance by making the vent a longitudinal slot, and by fitting the lower end of the cylinder for sliding adjustment in a band 17 on bracket 12. Vertical adjustment of the cylinder will cause the band to mask varying lengths of the vent slot. A set screw 18 serves as convenient means for securing the cylinder in adjusted position.

A spring detent 19 is adapted to secure A the signal element releasably in indicating position (Figure 1). It will do this automatically. The signal element may be reset readily by pressing it with the finger like a push-button.

The operationof the device when used i on a rifle will now be described. Assuming that the tirer is right handed, he will in-v clude the manipulating member 6 in the grasp of his right hand when holding the piece in firing position. The foreiinger will be free to engage the trigger, but the other fingers will bear against the manipulating member. When squeezing the trigger with the forefinger, involuntary articulation of the other fingers may occur. This will result in application of force to the manipulating member in the direction of the small of the stock. The bulb 13 will thereby be compressed and the resulting increase in pressure of the confined air will be communicated to the interior of cylinder 11. If the Enger pressure be gradual and slow, the signal element 5 will not be shifted into indicating position. However, should the firer pull the trigger violently, or flinch, the incidental clenching of all the fingers will cause rapid movement of the manipulating member and sudden increase in pressure within the cylinder. The signal element will thus be forced upward into the position of Figure 1, wherein it will be held exposed to view until reset.

It will be noticed that this device is capable of indicating convulsive pulling of the trigger as well as fiinching.

I claim:

l. In a firearm accessory, a changeable indicating element, means responsive to the trigger-actuating operation of a firer for transmitting motion to the indicating element, and means adapted to cause a relatively permanent change in the indicating element upon the transmission of motion of predetermined velocity to the said element.

2. In a firearm accessory, a movable indicating element, means responsive to the trigger-actuating operation of a firer for transmitting motion to the indicating element, means for causing movement of the indicating element upon the transmission of motion thereto of predetermined velocity, and means for securing the indicating element in shifted position.

3. In a firearm accessory, a movable indicating element, means responsive to the trigger-actuating operation of a firer for transmitting motion to the indicating element, means for causing movement of the indicating element upon the transmission of motion of pre-determined velocity, and releasable means for securing the indicating clement in shifted position.

4. In an indicator for firearms, a movable signal element, a movable actuating member responsive to nervous physiological reactions on the part of the firer, and means for transmitting motion from the actuating member to the signal element when the former has attained a predetermined speed of movement.

5. In an indicator for firearms, a movable signal element, a movable actuating member responsive to nervous physiological reactions on the part of the firer, pneumatic means for transmitting motion from the actuating member to the signal element, and means for allowing limited relative motion between actuating member and signal e1e ment.

6. In an indicator for firearms, a movable signal element, fluid-pressure means for shifting the signal element, means for dissipating the fluid pressure withiifa predetermined range, and means responsive to nervous physiological reactions on the part of the firer for varying the fluid pressure through a greater range.

7. In an indicator for firearms, a movable signal element, fluid-pressure means for shifting the signal element, means for dissipating the fluid pressure within a predetermined range, means for varying the said range, and means responsive to nervous physiological reactions on the part of the firer for varying the fluid pressure through a greater range.

8. In an indicator for firearms, a fluid cylinder, a movable signal element having a piston working in the cylinder, and means i responsive to nervous physiological reactions on the part of the firer for varyingthe fluid pressure in the cylinder. Y

9. In an indicator for firearms, a fluid cylinder having a vent to the atmosphere of sufficient cross-sectional area to dissipate the fluid pressure throughout a predetermined range, a piston working in the cylinder, a movable signal element adapted to be actuated by the piston, and means responsive to nervous physiological reactions on the part of the flrer for varying the fluid pressure in the cylinder.

10. In an indicator for firearms, a fluid cylinder having a vent to the atmosphere, means for varying the effective cross-sectional area of the vent, Va piston working inthe cylinder, a movable signal element adapted to be actuated by thepiston, and means responsive to nervous physiological reactions on the part of the firer for varying the fluid pressure in the cylinder.

11. In an indicator for firearms, a movable signal element normallyV disposed in inoperative position, meansv responsive to nervous physiological reactions for shifting the signal element into operative position, and releasable means for securing the signal element in operative position.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature.

DUDLEY B. HOWARD. 

